Why We Overcomplicate Our Wellness
We are masters at overcomplicating our health and wellness.
Part of this is because we are inundated with opinions from others about what we should and should not be doing, confusing us about what our minds + bodies really need.
Another reason is that we are given so many different options of what our wellness routine could entail, leaving us with analysis paralysis.
…and I’m sure you could think of several reasons unique to why you personally tend to overcomplicate your wellness.
While these reasons are all valid, I’m here to suggest that the foundational reason behind our act of overcomplicating things actually has very little to do with our inability to intentionally research and survey all of the wellness routines out there.
Rather, the primary reason behind our act of overcomplicating is our own resistance to change.
You see, our brains are hardwired to resist change. So much so that part of the brain — the amygdala— interprets change as a threat, releasing hormones for fight or flight to prevent change from happening. This is because our brain’s main goal is to keep us safe, and change can be extremely risky.
Overcomplicating by way of overthinking and overanalyzing becomes our safety net. As long as we are spending our sweet time googling all of the newest yoga studios around town, surfing the web for our new workout gear, and reading wellness articles online, we don’t have to take action toward our wellness goals.
Ah, sweet stability. Our primal brains can be at rest because there is no change occurring here.
Okay, but what if we want and need change? You can start here:
Acknowledge your resistance to change. Accept that your brain is trying to keep you secure while also understanding that you just might need to move forward, even if it’s risky.
Start small. Plan a wellness routine for yourself for the coming week. Keep it as simple as possible in order for you to actually execute your plan. Are you overcomplicating it? You may just be giving yourself an excuse not to move forward and potentially fail.
Remind yourself that in order to experience growth, we have to take risks.
Here are some of Our favorite simple wellness rituals:
Engage in nonjudgmental free flow, writing out whatever is on your mind. If you’re more of a prompt person, try these out. If you’re looking for fresh guided journaling prompts on a regular basis, check out the Collective.
Get moving. It doesn’t matter whether you thrive in low or high intensity workouts; what matters is that you are moving your body.
Take some deep breaths. One of the most powerful aspects of breath work is its unique ability to quiet the mind and create space in your day to day activities. Try out some different breathing methods, like box breathing or cadence breathing.
Get hydrated with sufficient electrolytes. One of our favorite ways to make sure we’re getting what our body needs is by drinking LMNT. LMNT is a tasty electrolyte drink mix that is formulated to help anyone with their electrolyte needs and is perfectly suited to folks following a keto, low-carb, or paleo diet.